Living The Good Life

Ahhh...mixed tapes.  I still haven't gotten over my joy of the mixed tape since I last talked about it way back in July . In today's high-tech world, the mixed tape has been replaced by iPods, iMixes, or condensed down to loading a few songs onto a memory stick.  It takes just moments, and hardly any thought.  Just click, click, save and bam!...you've got your song list.  But I ask you, where is the fun in that? Gone are the blissful hours, and I mean hours, of making a mixed tape for that special someone or occasion.  No longer do we know the joy of being surrounded by stacks of CD albums, our legs going numb from sitting crossed-legged, as we sift through countless music covers, reading every title as we look for the perfect song.  The clash of plastic against plastic as we tossed the CD's into specified piles was music in and of itself! My favorite part of the mixed tape process was all in the actual transfer from CD to tape.  I loved that you had to actually listen ...

Oh Quito, how I love thee... Dave and I needed a break from the heat and honking of Guayaquil, so we hopped on a quick flight north.   We spent a wonderful four days in beautiful Quito, Ecuador.  Enjoying the many artisan markets, coffee shops, restaurants, mountains, and cool weather.  I wore jeans and long-sleeved shirts, slept with three blankets on the bed, and never left without my jacket, hat, and gloves for the first time in months.  It was pure heaven. Quito is a very tourist friendly destination, with people from all over the world walking through the streets.  It is not uncommon to hear whispers of French, Dutch, German, English, and, of course, Spanish as you travel down its cobblestone avenues.  The people are also so very friendly, pointing out points of interest that they have discovered to any other tourist they see.  People often can be seen giving tips on which restaurants to try or where the nearest bookstore can be found to complete strangers they bump into.  Many ar...

Much to my mother's chagrin, Dave and I have not yet entered into the realm of parenthood.  Not to worry mom, there are good and temporary reasons for this (fear, panic, oh--and that whole living in a developing nation thing).  However, I don't believe that my lack of mommyhood means I can't admire the brave and amazing parenting I see going on out there. Take for instance my wonderful friend Sarri and her equally fabulous husband Joel.  These two brave souls--young, hip, and happening--are not only parents to three intelligent, loving, and beautiful children between the ages of two and seven, but they have taken said children to Europe.  For Five Weeks.   I can't even imagine the adventures that will ensue.  Luckily, Sarri is sharing the family together time via her blog, We're Not The Griswold's .   Check it out, it makes you think anything is possible.  (Don't get too excited about that last statement Mom, the fear and panic are still going pretty strong)...

Check out  Dave's post  for today.  That man keeps me in stiches.

I know that Living the Good Life has been silent for the last couple of weeks but there is good cause for that.  Somehow, and I'm not really sure how it happened but I suspect I was hit over the head with some large object, I agreed to run an English Camp at InterAmerican the last two weeks. Oh. My. Goodness. To say the enterprise was monumentally stressful, would be to put it lightly.   Try to imagine 15 continually rotating volunteers from InterAmerican Academy plus 70 children from a nearby community between the ages of five and fifteen, add to that the fact that the participants only speak Spanish and the leader (that would be me) only speaks English.  What does this equal?  Complete and utter chaos. The original plan was for the Junior Honor Society to plan and organize the entire two week, yes I said two weeks, event.  Living in a land of hopes and dreams, I believed that this would happen rather smoothly.  I made sure the kids had resources to plan the ten day lessons, I hel...